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The jesuit relations
1. The Jesuit Relations
Natives and Missionaries in
Seventeenth-Century North America
By Jessica Jefferson
History 140-Fall 2011
2. The Jesuit Relations
Introduction
Reports from The Society of Jesus, French missionaries, were
published annually between 1632 and 1673 and described the
Jesuit’s efforts to convert the native North American “pagan
savages” to Catholic Christianity. These reports serve as primary
sources of the history of the period.
Topics the reports
covered:
• Colonization progress
• Epidemics
• Progress of Jesuits
• Customs of Natives
3. The Jesuit Relations
Introduction
The Jesuit’s witnessed profound changes for the natives:
• Native Economies Transformed
• New Diseases and Epidemics
• New Weapons replacing old Technologies
The Relations were written for and by Europeans, but the
native’s voice is not lost.
• Evidence shows some shifting point of view in the Jesuits as they learn
more about, and integrate into the culture of the natives.
The Society of Jesus was not liked by all.
• Protestants, secular deists, Jansenists, and other rival religions disagreed
with there ways and were often jealous of the fame and influence the
Jesuits had.
4. The Jesuit Relations
Chapter 1
Paul Le Jeune Winters with Mestigoit’s Band
• Le Jeune accompanied Montagnais band on hunt for game. The journey
proved to be unimaginably difficult.
The Montagnais Described
• The natives had well establish system of beliefs. They believed Atahocam
created the world and Messou restored it.
Nipinouke was responsible for bringing the
spring and summer seasons, and Pipinoukhe
brought the cold season. Their fear of death
was beyond anything else. They cooperated
admirably.
5. The Jesuit Relations
Chapter 1
How to settle disputes and discipline children.
• In place of the traditional physical punishment that Europeans were used
to administrating to discipline children, the Huron's used present giving to
the injured side to amend the child’s behavior. Presents were exchanged
among the adults. The Huron's believed the child was unaware of the
implications of there reaction.
6. The Jesuit Relations
Chapter 2
Language
• Natives lacked words for virtue, religion, learning, and government. This
made the task the Jesuits had of explaining these things very difficult.
Religion, Myth, Ritual
• Natives have faith in dreams which surpass all belief. Dream is the oracle
of the people. A key feature in their way of life.
Law and Government
• The natives lived a very political and civic life. They had assembled
villages, and lived peacefully together. Not at all like the “savage”
conception.
7. The Jesuit Relations
Chapter 2
The Huron Feast of the Dead
• This was the most renowned ceremony among the Huron’s. It gave the
Jesuits hope because it showed them the natives recognized the
immortality of the soul and that they in time should be able to see the
need for Christian salvation.
8. The Jesuit Relations
Chapter 3
Disease and Medicine
• Huron's attributed illness to both natural and super natural causes.
Shamans helped the sick to recover.
Huron Medical Practices
• Sicknesses are caused by demons. They can be driven away by song.
Games are often held country wide to prevent foreseen misfortune.
Tokens of luck are horded, having been seen in dream, to protect and heal.
The Influenza Epidemic of 1637
• The flu devastated the Huron’s. The Huron’s suspected that the French
presence was a possible cause of the sickness and asked what it was that
the French God wanted to end the plague.
9. The Jesuit Relations
Chapter 3
Smallpox Among the Huron’s 1639
• The nation was “mowed down” by the onset of this disease. The natives
blamed the Jesuits.
A Medical Duel: Father Alloverz and the Potawotais
• The Jesuits witnesses much drama on the different approaches taken by
the missionaries vs. the natives on how to treat and care for the sick.
10. The Jesuit Relations
Chapter 5
Montagnais Explanations of a solar Eclipse
• The myth of a man getting angry with a wicked woman was used to
explain an eclipse. When the man threated the woman her heart
trembles, causing the sight in the sky.
The Moral Qualities of Animals
• Animals were presented as embodiments of human vices and virtues. An
example being the “industrious” beaver.
11. The Jesuit Relations
Chapter 5
Earthquakes, Comets, and other Prophetic signs
• 1663 was unusually active environmentally and the Relations documented
this quite well. The reports discuss earthquakes, comets, and the aurora,
in curious addition to both native and French having presentiments of a
large earthquake.
Nature as a Storehouse of Resources
• The native North Americans viewed
their environment with awe.
They saw a haunt of animals evil
and valorous, a medium of divine
communication, and an
object of mystical analysis.
The French saw mainly a source of
resources.